


can i have this dance?

by kenmagoesblep



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Childhood Friends, Confessions, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, High School Drama, Humor, M/M, Mutual Pining, Party Shenanigans, Truth or Dare, Underage Drinking, rated t for cursing, they don't excessively curse but still
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-15
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-06-28 11:35:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19811464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kenmagoesblep/pseuds/kenmagoesblep
Summary: Something about Riku’s unwavering companionship and the easy smiles he shared with no one else but Sora had him believe he still had a chance. Riku never said, with all the words, that he didn’t like Sora back, he simply didn’t understand it. And misunderstandings can always be fixed.Sora fell harder, more determined to get to his best friend's heart, like a moth still obsessed with the lamp that burned it. Riku was a beautiful lamp to be burned by.





	can i have this dance?

**Author's Note:**

> okay, so, i'm pretty sure no one was here actually waiting for this, but.... hey!! its me!!!! i hope at least some of yall are excited for me and my exquisite fic!!  
> admittedly, i've been working on this since i finished playing kh3 for the first time and had this primal urge to Fix things, so one could say this is my attempt at fix it fic, even tho it has Nothing to do with kh canon. bc, if im being honest with yall, i wish they just had the change to live a normal life and have their teenage drama and not deal with Evil Bald Man and Keyblade Wars.  
> and also i was watching a lot of vine compilations and having a promposal vine happen right after the "two bros chilling in the hottub five feet apart bc theyre not gay" was Deeply Inspiring okay
> 
> either way, this is first part of two, hopefully i'm not gonna take too long to post the rest lmao enjoy!!

Sora was a little slow, but, eventually, he realized that what he felt for Riku wasn’t simple Best Friend feelings. 

Having been friends for so long (quite literally since they both wore diapers), Sora didn’t pay any attention to the shift in his feelings towards Riku. Maybe because they were fundamentally the same: he always admired Riku, looked up to him, competed with him for the dumbest things and generally couldn’t imagine not having Riku around. 

At some unknown moment in time, however, things started to change. Slowly and steadily. Riku’s terrible shit eating grin that he’d flash Sora whenever he’d win didn’t anger Sora anymore, the burn to push harder and beat him replaced with something else he couldn’t understand, along with some weird stomach aches. The difference in their build didn’t bother him, either. In fact, Sora started appreciating (in a strange way) the fact that Riku was taller than him. He’d never appreciate being used as an armrest, but being smaller than Riku made for more comfortable hugging and sharing a bed during their sleepovers. Not to mention that, even though he’d never say at his friend’s face, it was a good look on him… 

Riku was pretty good looking, objectively. He had soft white hair, teal eyes and a nice angled face. Only a blind person wouldn’t acknowledge that. It got Sora’s mouth kinda dry.

_But that’s how everyone felt about their best friends, right? Normal stuff._ Or so he thought.

(The fact that he didn’t feel the same way around Kairi was a big point of contention. She was his best friend, too… but maybe, not as much? The thought was a bit hurtful. Sora wasn’t willing to admit the three of them weren’t as close anymore.)

Sora would probably never realize that what he was feeling was textbook example of a Massive Gay Crush if his friends didn’t interfere — they had to spell his own feelings to him. 

In spite of the fact that they’d probably be made fun of in school for still having sleepovers, Sora, Roxas, and their group of friends had a lot of those. People that stopped having sleepovers due to social expectations were missing out. Especially during vacation, and that specific summer vacation — between their last year of middle school and first year of high school — was no exception. 

The exceptional element of that sleepover was that Riku wasn’t with them, to Sora’s distaste. Not that his best friend had any choice to come over, really, considering he was travelling with his parents. They didn’t get a lot of time together, Riku’s parents were always busy, so it was good that he was out with them, enjoying their vacation in the mountains.

“I’d rather go to the beach,” Riku confessed in one of his audio messages, but audibly shrugged right after. “but mom got kinda tired of that. Said she wanted to ‘enjoy some fresh air’.”

Sora could tell from his tone alone that he’d rather have stayed home and enjoyed his time with them, but Riku wasn’t good with communicating his feelings. He’d either avoid talking about them, leaving bits and pieces for people to figure out, or wax out poetry about them. The thought got Sora feeling all warm again, and for a moment, he figured Riku’s mom was right. It was really hot that summer. Another part of him wished she didn’t whisk his friend away, but nothing could be done about that. And he’d be back soon, so it’d be fine.

“Sora,” Roxas grunted his name, nudging at his leg with a foot from across the Clue board. “It’s your turn, stop talking to Riku.” All the other around them laughed at that. Hayner and Pence were pretty obvious about it, Olette was polite enough to hide it behind her free hand and Kairi smiled to herself, rolling her eyes.

“H-” He considered protesting for a second, but it would be no use, so he huffed for a second and hurried to get his notes and cards. “I think it was Colonel Mustard with the revolver on the library!”

That wasn’t really his guess. Naminé had shown him the revolver already. She giggled and handed him the card once again. Not that it mattered a lot — he won that round anyway, to everyone’s surprise. And Hayner’s rage, which was kinda hilarious. Roxas didn’t joke when he said Hayner was a sore loser, and the way he refused to play another round only added to the point instead of cleaning his name. 

They all agreed on just chatting it out, munching on the snacks Kairi’s mom was kind enough to bring to them (with kindly delivered orders to not make too much of a mess on her delightful fluffy mat) as they shared thoughts and anecdotes. Many of which they all knew of, since most of them were there to witness it, but there was always some enjoyment out of fondly remembering their past shenanigans. Besides, Xion didn’t seem to know all of them, having moved in town the year before and being the last one to join their group, and she was thoroughly enjoying their stories. 

In an effort to bring fresh anecdotes to the table (and bring his best friend to the conversation, even though he was miles away), Sora decided on sharing his and Riku’s best moments. 

Only the funniest ones, of course. It didn’t take a genius to know that the others wouldn’t appreciate Sora sharing about the fifth time they beat Crash Bandicoot together and jumped around on the room in their underwear, or the time Riku and Sora swapped shirts as toddlers because Sora wouldn’t stop crying over spilling grape juice on himself or anything of the sort. The more intimate, significant ones to their friendship were the ones Sora cherished the most, but not the most interesting for those who weren’t there. 

Not to mention the fact that he was willing to tell Riku’s embarrassing stories only to a certain extent: Riku would probably kill Sora if he shared the most embarrassing stories and hurting him was the last of Sora’s intentions.

Sharing these anecdotes got Sora missing him even more, longing sighs slipping amidst his enthusiastic talking. It also got him some pretty weird looks from everyone in the room. Except Roxas, he seemed bent on not looking at him at all, almost angry about it. 

“So, like, Riku usually hogs the blanket, nothing new there, but the other day-” maybe he had lost track of what he was telling three times and everyone didn’t get the point or what was funny about it, but Sora would get there. Or would've, if he hadn't been interrupted. 

“Wait wait wait,” Hayner cut in, after long minutes of squinting at Sora in silence. “How do you know he hogs the blankets?”

“‘Cause we do sleepovers, like, every other week?” 

“Who does he hog the blankets from, though?” Olette seemed just as confused as Hayner in this topic. Wasn’t it obvious?

“Me? Who else would he hog the blankets from?” 

Sora didn’t get embarrassed easily, not even when his friends were making fun of him, but the judgemental glances and the stunned silence that followed got his cheeks burning bright red. Even _Xion_ shot him a skeptical look, and she was the nicest of Roxas’ friends. Kairi knowingly sipping on her juice as she checked her phone didn’t help his case. 

“Sora… you two sleep together?” Roxas looked his way for the first time during that entire conversation and asked in a low voice, surprised and disbelieving. It made sense that he didn’t know, considering he’d generally sleep on their room with their pets (Donald and Goofy, no more introductions needed) when Sora, Riku and Kairi took over the living room.

“Isn’t that just, like, a normal sleepover thing?”

More stunned silence and judgemental glances followed his question, as well as some stifled giggles, making anything Sora wanted to say die in his throat. 

“So, Kairi doesn’t join you two in your sleepovers?” Kairi chortled as soon as Olette asked, everyone turning their attention to her.

“Oh, I do, but get this:” Kairi cleared her throat, looking entirely too smug for Sora’s liking, and proceeded to imitate him. _“Kairiii, the mattress isn’t big enough for three!”_ Everyone laughed out loud at her mock-whining, ignoring Sora’s actual whining. _“You’ll have to sleep on the couuuuch!”_

“I don’t sound like that at all! Why are you so mean?!” 

“What is this all about?” Kari’s mom peeked through her office’s door with actual concern. “Is everything alright?”

“Auntie, they’re bullying me!”

“Can it even be considered bullying when we all know it’s true?” Roxas managed through his laughter, rubbing a tear off the corner of his eye. Seeing as there wasn’t any real trouble going on, Kairi’s mom gave them a kind smile and went back to her work. 

“You guys haven’t enjoyed some platonic cuddling with your best friends and it really _shows_.” Sora firmly crossed his arms over his chest, grunting in the back of his throat. 

“Platonic?” Xion stopped giggling all at once, tilting her head sideways, looking genuinely puzzled. “I thought you and Riku were dating.” 

Sora was the one to go into stunned silence this time, his face burning hotter and brighter than ever, gaping like a fish. He could barely start on asking what had given her the idea before all the others started screaming, losing it as they fell in another fit of hysterical laughter.

“Well, they sure act like they are!” Pence laughed as he grabbed another handful of chips. ‘Like, seriously, Sora, you and Riku act more like a couple than as friends.” 

“What?!” was what he managed to say in his defense, voice cracking in a way not even puberty got it to crack before. “No, we don’t!!!”

“No judgement there! You do you!”

“They’re so married, it makes me sick.” Roxas made a fake gagging noise as he rolled his eyes, but got back to laughing right after. 

“Aw, c’mon, Roxas, they’d make a cute couple!” Olette kindly petted his shoulder. Roxas grimaced in response, cringing so hard he got double chins. Sora covered his head with his hoodie and pulled at the strings in response.

“You say that because you’re not the one who deals with it everyday. Sora likes him _so much,_ he talks about Riku all day! Like… ” he probably would’ve kept going with this rant, but he was a caring enough brother to notice his brother’s strangled noises. “Uhh… Sora?”

“...You _do_ like Riku, don’t you, Sora?” Naminé took it to herself and addressed the elephant in the room after they all glanced at each other in awkward silence. 

_I didn’t, but now that you’re putting it like that, I think I do_. The thought hit Sora like a ball to the face, like the resulting wave of a dashing bus on a rainy day, and his stomach squirmed its protest. Or it was the weird mix of pizza, sea-salt ice cream and the myriad of different sodas he had. Didn’t make the emotional impact less real. 

“I don’t know…” was his reply instead, coming out as a low, confused whine. 

Thankfully, that was enough awkward tension for the night, and conversation steered far away from any other touchy subjects. 

Sora didn’t stop thinking about it, though. Not for that night or for the next few days.

Well, damn, the idea of being in love with Riku wasn’t as strange as he thought it would be. After the initial impact, it seemed… Natural. Much more comfortable in his chest than considering him a better friend than Kairi, when Sora hated picking favorites. It also explained _a lot:_ why he started seeing Riku a little differently, why he wanted to be around him or in his personal space all the time, and why he never opposed to the idea of dating Riku when asked about it. Nor to the idea of spending his entire life with Riku, really. 

Sora carried that with him to his first day of highschool, heart fluttering and stomach doing somersaults when he caught up to Riku by the school’s entrance that morning just like it did every single day. 

Lucky for him, their relationship didn’t change — an accomplishment, really, considering Sora wanted to cover his friend’s face with kisses every time he did anything remotely endearing, which could make things _very awkward_. Of course Sora would be more than willing to act on it if Riku was up to it, but being friend was just as good. Having Riku around was the most important thing to him, no matter what. The thought of not having him around was scarier than anything else. 

Their friendship didn’t waver or change, but they did. Riku grew even taller, towering over their classmates, shoulders broadening so much a plane could land there, losing his baby face in exchange for a more handsome, mature look. 

Riku grew gentler, too. Getting completely over his broodiness was a work in progress and poking fun at his friends was still the cornerstone of his sense of humor, but none of that changed the fact that he got a lot nicer after he was done with his angsty middle school phase. Riku was kinder to their new peers and overall softer around the edges. He would probably never get around to properly apologizing to the people he lowkey antagonized in middle school, or fully forgive himself for the few times he hurt his friends and others for real, as Riku confessed to Sora and Kairi late at night to never speak of it again, but they’d never hold that against him. He was trying his best. Sora wouldn’t have it any other way.

Roxas would like to differ, claiming Riku was only nice to him and Kairi, but Roxas was hardly a trustworthy input when it came to Riku because he was one of the people Riku was an asshole to in middle school. Although Roxas had already admitted to keeping that grudge more as a joke and as a way to get on Riku’s nerves than anything else.

An even bigger statement of his change in behavior and his coming of age was the new look Riku picked for himself. 

“Riku!” Sora would never _not_ recognize his best friend, not on the packed corridors of their school or anywhere in the world, but he couldn’t help his surprised, excited yelp when he saw Riku that morning, a random wednesday early in their sophomore year. “Your hair! You cut it!”

“Yeah,” Riku reached to put his hair behind his ear only to find no hair there, fumbling with his hand there for a second. It’d take a while to get used to how short it was, since it had been on his face and past his shoulders for so long, probably a couple of years. “I think it was time for a change.”

Sora would be lying if he say he wouldn’t miss his friend’s long, flowing silver hair, but… 

“Yeah, I get that. It looks great on you!”

‘Great’ was a severe understatement. Riku looked _stunning_ , Sora was struggling to breathe and his face hurt from smiling so hard. Granted, there was nothing Riku could do to his hair that Sora wouldn’t like, Riku was just too good looking to be ruined by a weird haircut, which didn’t make his compliment less genuine. 

Riku probably needed to hear that, though. He didn't seem too confident in it, picking at his hair and shifting in his place. Sora's compliment seemed to get through to Riku, thought. He bashfully ran his hands through his freshly trimmed fringe (probably, again, out of habit), looking brighter already. 

“Thanks, Sora.” 

_I’d do anything to get Riku to smile like this everyday,_ Sora thought to himself, following that with _Hahah, fuck, there’s no saving me now._

He fell for Riku, fell hard, and had no intentions of getting back up. His friends would probably make fun of him for the rest of his life, but he was fine with it. If anything, Sora wished people would recognize Riku as the amazing guy he was. 

Sora would come to regret wishing that when it became a reality, getting to know the bitter taste of jealousy.

Riku got pretty popular throughout high school, and with popularity, came more people interested in being around him, his great looks and mysterious, cool image drawing people closer, boys and girls alike. Most of them just wanted to befriend him, drawn to his coolness and maybe in hopes they’d look cooler by association, and that was fine. That’s just how high school’s social dynamics work. Besides, Sora knew he’d still be Riku’s best friend. 

Problem started when other students started crushing on him, leaving anonymous confessions and phone numbers in his locker, asking him out on dates, sending flirty memes and selfies on social media. Which was only reasonable, really. Riku was a great, handsome guy. 

Sora still didn’t like it in the slightest. 

Even worse was being approached by his fellow infatuated classmates for tips on how to get to Riku’s heart, being his closest friend and all of that, unaware that Sora was searching for answers to that very question. 

In spite of his terrible, unjustified jealousy, Sora didn’t have it in him to lie about Riku’s preferences or be mean to the people that reached to him for help, putting on the best smile he could manage and giving them some of Riku’s likes and dislikes. 

He had no right over his best friend’s love life and, if Riku were to be happy with someone else, so be it. 

Sora couldn’t help but thank that none of their confessions were successful, though. Riku consistently rejected them, trying his best to be polite but only coming off as awkward and rude, pushing them away more than he wanted to. Didn’t change the subsequent feeling or urgence burning deep in Sora.

Sora couldn’t stand the idea of Riku dating anyone that _wasn’t him,_ and he couldn’t keep lying to himself about it. And if he wanted a chance, he had to get it before someone else did.

It took him a while to build up the courage to make an attempt, but Sora decided on making a move on Valentine’s Day week. Maybe confessing on Valentine’s Day would be more romantic, like the girls had suggested, but he didn’t want to wait that long. 

“Hey, Riku!” Sora’s breathlessness, hopefully, could be attributed to being coerced into playing ball with Tidus early that morning, and not to the fact he sprinted down two set of stairs to get to their lockers in time to accompany Riku home. 

“Hey,” Riku greeted him with a raised eyebrow and a side smile as he organized his books. “You okay there? Did calculus tire you that much?”

“Haha, very funny.” Sora scrunched his nose at the provocation, his heart doing somersaults in his chest as Riku’s smirk turned into a fond smile, reminding him what he was there for. “I ran here. Wanted… to talk to you before you left. ‘Something I wanna ask.”

“Well, I’m here. What is it?” 

_Oh, shit, that was it. He had to say it._

“So, uh, what are you planning to do this saturday?” Sora said and leaned against the locker, hoping to seem casual and flirty and not like he was about to pass out from increased blood pressure.

“Homework, probably. Why’re you asking?”

“D-Do you wanna go to the mall? I need some new jeans ‘cause I ripped my favorites the other day, hah. And I, I really _really_ like you, you’re the _best,_ so I wanted you to go out with me.” 

“Sure.” Riku’s casual tone as he closed his locker and motioned to leave the school building was almost unnatural, surreal, like Sora hadn’t just _confessed to him._ Like he just asked for his help doing homework or some other mundane thing. 

_“Really?!”_ Sora’s voice cracked beyond recognition, following Riku down the corridor with faulty steps. Did it mean nothing to him, or was he really that dense? 

“Yeah?” the unsaid ‘why are you being so weird about it?’ had Sora wanting to fling himself into the Sun. His confession flew right past Riku’s head, not moving a single hair of his. “Did you call Kairi? She commented about wanting some new dress shirts the other day.” 

“N-No, I don’t want her to come this time.” Riku raised him an eyebrow again and Sora scratched the back of his head, laughing nervously. “I want it to be just the two of us! Because… like…” 

Realization seemed to flash in Riku’s eyes and Sora’s heart started racing again. 

“Okay, I get it now.” Riku nodded to himself with an understanding smile. “You’re holding me up for that one time I didn’t go to the mall with you to do homework. You want me to pay for that milkshake I promised you.”

That wasn’t it, at all. Sora had forgotten about it entirely. 

“I mean… _Yeah, I want that milkshake…_ but that’s…” he tried, but Sora couldn’t give him a better explanation, the words escaped him entirely. “Nevermind. Just. Go with me, please?”

“Alright, you’ve made your point.” 

Hopefully, Riku would realize until then that they were going on a date. He was a smart guy, he’d figure it out, maybe he needed some time to let it sink in. Besides, saturday was Valentine’s Day, and that was an obvious hint. Sora crossed his fingers all the way home, kept them crossed for as long as he remembered doing so, and crossed them again on his way to the mall on saturday. 

No, Riku didn’t realize it was supposed to be a date. Sora’s attempts at starting flirty conversations as he picked and tried new slim fit jeans, the strawberry milkshake filled with heart sprinkles they shared, the Valentine’s Day decorations all over the mall and walking home holding hands didn’t get through to him, either.

“End me.” 

Sora laid down on Roxas’ bed as soon as he got home, staring at the roof, his spirit slowly leaving his body. Roxas didn’t even raise his eyes from his 3DS, but scooted to the side so they’d both fit more comfortably, showing him his screen as he kept playing. 

“What happened?” 

“Riku’s an idiot.” 

Roxas did chortle at that, but didn’t keep laughing after Sora kicked his shin as a warning. He wasn’t in the mood to take his brother’s shit. 

“Nothing new there. Did he not realize it was a date?”

“Yep.”

“We should probably end him, instead.”

“Roxas, _no._ ”

“Roxas, _yes!_ It’s on him for not understanding _a confession._ Unless… ” Roxas paused for a second, mouth left agape as he thought of something, squinting at Sora once he was done. “Wait, what did you even tell him?”

“Well, I told him I liked him, really really liked him, that he’s the best and asked him to go with me.”

“... That’s a shitty ass confession, Sora.”

“N-No it wasn’t! It’s what I feel for him!”

“But you tell him that every other day, how did you expect he’d understand?!” 

“B-But he had to! Roxas, I asked him to go out with me on Valentine’s Day! There was people kissing all around us! _I held his_ **_hand!”_ **

“... Okay, I’ll give that to you, but doesn’t change that you two are idiots.” 

“Why are you being so mean to me?! I thought you only made fun of Riku!”

“I’m a communist, I make fun of everyone equally.” 

“... That doesn’t even make any sense!” 

Sora would’ve given Roxas the proper backlash for being that disrespectful, but he slumped in bed and settled on watching Roxas play instead. The realization that Riku probably didn’t return his feelings was settling in his chest and pooling at the corners of his eyes, putting a bitter end to his wishful thinking. 

It all would’ve hurt a lot more if it wasn’t for his brother’s company, rambling about his game laying by his side, and the more direct, physical comfort from Donald, nuzzling in his armpit. Goofy joined on the cuddle pile after he was back from walking with mom. 

Still, expecting him to not cry about it was asking too much. Sora spent most of his night crying secretively in his pillow, wrapped on all sides by his trusty pet companions, who fell asleep before him.

Riku would still be his friend, but being just friends was a hurtful thought, and he had to accept that and heal from the subsequent wound. 

When monday came, Sora thought he was over it. Rejection didn’t weight so heavily anymore and thinking about Riku didn’t make him instantly want to cry. There were plenty more fish in the sea, his mom liked to say, it wasn’t the end of the world. 

One good look at Riku on the next school day was enough to prove Sora wrong, though. He always walked past Riku’s locker on his way to his first period class, and, completely unaware of it all, Riku greeted him that morning, as fond as always. 

Fuck, he was just as smitten with Riku as before. 

Rejection was still there, but new hope was sprouting in Sora’s figurative emotional garden. Something about Riku’s unwavering companionship and the easy smiles he shared with no one else but Sora had him believe he still had a chance. It barely felt like a rejection anymore, really. After all, Riku never said, with all the words, that he didn’t like Sora back. He simply didn’t understand it. And misunderstandings can always be fixed. 

Sora fell harder, more determined to get to his best friend's heart, like a moth still obsessed with the lamp that burned it. Riku was a beautiful lamp to be burned by. 

All he needed was time, patience and better opportunities. Maybe better communication skills too, because, when he looked a little more objectively to his initial confession, it really was kinda shit. But mostly opportunities. Valentine’s Day happened only once a year.

His classmates were enthusiastic about providing opportunities, even if they didn’t really notice. Freshman year was a tamed year, with not a lot of drama or much to do other than the occasional birthday party, but by second year, things started to change. People knew each other better at that point and everyone was eager to wreck some havoc and have fun. 

All of a sudden, their classmates were starting to throw more parties, to celebrate birthdays or just for the sake of partying, so invitations started to appear.

Sora wasn’t a big party guy, really. He and his friends were a lot more into ordering a bunch of pizzas and playing games at someone’s house or hanging out at a local burger joint, so there weren’t a lot of parties to attend, but he wasn’t opposed to it. Parties could be a lot of fun! 

It took Sora a while to start attending said parties, though. His parents wouldn’t allow him to go to said parties unless Roxas tagged along, which was a continuous and unrelentless pain in the ass. Sora didn’t oppose to hanging out with his brother or bringing him along, but Roxas didn’t share the same interest a lot of times. And by that, he meant _all the times_. Roxas was neck deep in his rebellious skater phase and would rather die than attend some random classmate’s house party, not even once. 

Sora got it, really. They had lived under each other’s shadow most of their lives. But it wouldn’t hurt Roxas to help him a little, would it?! He wouldn’t even agree to _pretending_ he tagged along so Sora could go out and live a little, not wanting to get in trouble for him even after all the times Sora covered for his troubles, the hypocrite. 

Thankfully, when junior year rolled around, mom got more lenient, allowing Sora to go as long as he had a friend with him, and that wasn’t nearly as hard to arrange. Kairi already was an avid presence in people’s house parties, so she was always eager to go with him, and Riku… Sora was sure Riku wouldn’t give in that easily, but he agreed to go with him right away. 

“Why are you so surprised?” Riku wheezed mid-response.

  
“Wh-” Sora stumbled on his words again, still taken aback. “You never go to parties!” Riku quirked his eyebrow. “I thought you didn’t like them.”

“I don’t mind them. But they can be fun. Besides,” Riku looked at him from the corner of his eye, fondness beneath his smug look. “someone’s gotta babysit you and Kairi, so you don’t get in trouble.”

“I don’t need anyone taking care of me, I can handle myself!” Sora crossed his arms and puffed out his chest. 

“Oh, yeah?” Riku’s smirk grew wider. “Do I need to remind you of the time you-”

No, he did _not_ need a reminder of all the times he fucked up, got sick, or hurt himself in the presence of Riku, that lead to Riku taking him either to his mom, Sora’s mom, or the ER. If Sora’s face wasn’t red before, it definitely did after that, all of his blood rushing up his neck. 

“Shut it!” Sora punched his best friend’s arm, almost strong enough to hurt, stifling a giggle. He wasn’t supposed to laugh at his own expense. “I know I fucked up many times in the past but we’re not kids anymore, I can take care of myself!” 

From that point forward, Riku’s and Sora’s hangouts started to include attending parties. They still spent most of their time training together after school or at each other’s house playing games, but the eventual party was always an exciting change to their usual ‘schedule’. There were more people to hang out with, food, drinks, and games to play.

Not to mention the slim possibility of, maybe, wooing Riku. 

They were already past the possibility of getting to his heart through words, since Riku’s skull seemed thicker than that of the average male teenager, and not by lack of attempts. Sora didn’t specifically try to confess again after the Valentine’s Day fiasco, but he was too talkative and too enamored with Riku to keep it to himself, accidentally spilling his heart out in impromptu situations. Still didn’t get him far, his feelings coming across to Riku as “weirdly emotional all of a sudden” and nothing more. So Sora needed to take direct action, despite his complete lack of knowledge in how to seduce anyone.

Parties were not only an opportunity to put effort into his looks without looking suspicious to everyone around him, but there was something _special_ about parties. Almost romantic, even. With the dim lights, music, people dancing around, spin the bottle and the other games… Or maybe he just had been watching too many romcoms and was totally idealizing the whole thing. 

Either way, Sora had to try. He was running out of options and trying something out during those parties didn’t seem so bad, when he couldn’t think of any other time and place. 

The first house party the trio went together was at Tidus’ house, which could be troublesome considering his and Sora’s parents were close friends, but it wasn’t his business. Tidus was dumb and rich so his parties were fun as hell.

Kairi insisted that she and Sora should get ready together, that she wanted to test some new products in his hair and such. Of course, it was no coincidence that she wanted to do that in that specific night. Kairi knew Sora would try something with Riku that evening. She didn’t need anyone to tell her, she simply _knew_ , like a wise old man with infinite knowledge. And, despite not really feeling like sitting for an hour as Kairi applied lotions on him and messed around with his hair, Sora agreed, knowing she’d do magic to his looks. 

One thing he couldn’t do was take his whole wardrobe to Kairi’s home, though, so she’d have to deal with the small selection of items he could get in his backpack. Kairi would figure something out.

More than an hour later, 3 different hair products applied to his head and some quick nail polish applied to his nails against his will (“He’s gonna like it, trust me!”), she did quite the work on him. Sora almost looked like a different person, with the painted nails and the combinations of clothes that he’d never pick on his own but probably should. Like, wow. He didn’t feel severely underdressed while standing next to Kairi for once. 

If he’d get Riku falling for him for his looks, that was the night it’d happen. 

The two of them arrived at Tidus’ earlier, Riku would only show up after he was done having dinner with his parents. There wasn’t a lot of people when they arrived, only Tidus and his closest friends still putting on decorations and sorting out chips and dipping sauces on some plastic plates. Everyone sat on the kitchen counters doing something as they chat it out about school and the teachers they didn’t like, and they barely even noticed people arriving and crowding the kitchen until it got hard to move around.

“Alright, let’s get this party started!” Tidus announced loud and excited as he guided his guests out of his kitchen, raising his arms above his head with a bag of red solo cups like a prize and laughing harder when people cheer behind him.

“This is gonna be wild, huh,” Sora leaned on Kairi’s side and whispered to her, before Tidus shoved a cup full of something in his hand. “Thanks, man!”

“What did you expect, Sora?” Kairi giggled at him, accepting a cup of her own. After close inspection, it seemed to be beer. 

“I dunno.” He shrugged, playing around with his cup and watching the beer swirl inside.

“You want to go home?” she placed a careful hand on his shoulder with a kind smile. “We don’t have to stay if you don’t feel like it, Sora.”

“Nope!” Sora bounced back, grinning at her. “I’m into it! Let’s get wild here!”

“That’s the spirit!” Kairi grinned back at him, before taking a big dramatic sip of her beer and getting foam on her face. So brave. “It’s gonna be fun!”

For the first hour or so, the two of them strolled through Tidus’ house, greeting people, stopping for small chatter before moving along. Tidus’ house wasn’t too big, but spacious enough to host a bunch of eager teenagers, with guests spread all over the living room and backyard. So many people there, filling up the rooms, sprawled on the couches and on the floor, downing cup after cup of shitty alcohol and taking selfies. 

Even the seniors they all hated were there, but no Riku to be seen. Sora checked his phone once, twice. Kairi was giving him some weird looks, before she took his phone from his hands and stuffed it in his back pocket, reassuring him that Riku would come. 

As they were crossing the living room to go grab some more chips, they heard him calling, turning to see Riku making his way through the people towards them. Sora almost choked on his own spit, he looked _stunning_. It took a special kind of confidence to wear only a half sleeved crop top, black jeans and sneakers to a party, and Riku had all of that. The attitude, the toned body to pull it off, the gorgeous face… Sora got lost in a list of possible praises.The long necklace and the bracelets would’ve passed unnoticed if one of them didn’t reflect so much, hitting Sora right in the eye with a beam of light. Blinding like its wearer. 

“Sora!” Riku called him and waved, getting closer. “Finally found you.”

“Hi Riku,” Kairi grinned at him, elbowing Sora’s side. He was struggling. “How long have you been here?”

  
  
“Not too long,” he rubbed the back of his head, sleeve clinging to his bicep, catching Sora with a side glance and frowning. “Sora, are you already drunk?” 

“Uh, wha- No!” Sora snapped back into action, feeling his face burn, especially when Kairi started chuckling beside him. “Sorry, I spaced out. Good thing you made it here.”

“Yeah, my mom really opposed to that.” 

A beat of silence. Or, at least, the closest to silence a filled up party could get. 

“So, do you guys wanna play truth or dare?” Riku asked after he was done staring Sora down, probably unconvinced of his soberness. Who knows. Riku stared a lot, sometimes. 

“Didn’t you think truth or dare is _dumb?_ ” Sora raised an eyebrow and his pitch.

“I mean, _yeah…_ But Naminé never played, and she asked.” 

“Naminé decided to come, after all?” Kairi got on her toes, trying to peek behind Riku and into the crowd, waving to their friend once she spotted her. “That’s so nice of you, Riku!”

“Don’t sweat it,” he laughed to himself before going serious again, going back to looking at Sora, weirdly intent. “So, wanna play?”

“Uuuuuh…” 

His heart had been racing for several seconds at that point, blood rushing all sorts of places instead of his brain, and Sora was suffering from it. He was too weak to handle Riku (looking like _that_ ) on his own. So he looked down to Kairi, nudged her side, pouted slightly, until she eventually sighed and nodded her agreement. 

“Alright, let’s go!” 

Sora’s best defense was his bravado, hiding behind a big grin and jumping in place before following Riku back to the living room. He made a beeline to the nearest corner table to abandon his full solo cup, that he’d been babysitting since they arrived. Beer tasted like bitter bread and he had no reason to get drunk when he could get inebriated from staring at his best friend. 

“You’re unbelievable, Sora…” Kairi whispered to him, caught between laughing and rolling her eyes. 

“C’mon, help me here, Kairi.”

“I’m going to.” Sora didn’t like her tone. “So, you want me to dare you to kiss Riku?”

“Wh-” he almost jumped in place, feeling his stomach sink and heart beat faster. “Kairi, I said ‘help me’, not ‘murder me’!” 

“You’re too much of a coward to do it on your own, and we both know it.”

God damn it, she was right, but she didn’t need to say it. Sora’s heart jumped on his throat as he croaked his protest, and then his agreement, and then denying again. Sora couldn’t make up his mind. It was too much pressure to kiss his best friend in front of people like that, but it was a tempting idea. 

The two of them kept bantering back and forth as they followed Riku through the main living room, making their way through the makeshift dance floor to join Naminé and head into a second living room (rich people houses…), where there were some people already passed out on the couches. Were… Were those his cousins? When did Vanitas started going to parties?! He was dead to the world, piled on Ventus, who seemed to be weeping in his alcohol-induced sleep. Oh damn… Meanwhile, Selphie, Yuffie and Wakka were already on the ground with their drinks and a bowl of chips, waiting for them to join. 

“Nice!” Wakka rejoiced when they got in, disregarding the people sleeping beside him. “So, ‘we ready to start?”

Everyone agreed in a variety of hums and nods, sitting down in a circle. Kairi wiggled his eyebrows at Sora, who blushed harder. She wasn’t making it any less embarrassing.

“Alright, who wanna start?”

  
  
“Me, me!” Selphie happily raised her hand at the same time Kairi did. “No, you go,” and they echoed again, giggling afterwards. “Okay, let’s go. Kairi, truth or dare?”

  
  
“Truth.”

“So, do you have a crush on someone?” she giggled with fake innocence. 

“Of course you’d ask me something like that,” Kairi rolled her eyes, still somewhat fondly. “Yes, I actually do.”

“Ooooooh, and who is it?”

  
“You’ll have to ask me again to know that,” she chuckled, to Selphie’s displeasure. “Okay… Sora,” Kairi shot him a conniving look, wiggling her eyebrows again, and Sora’s heart jumped to his throat. Riku was looking at him as well. He probably caught up with the fact that Sora and Kairi were hiding something from him. _Of course she’d do that right away, oh god, oh no,_ his despair must’ve showed on his face, because his friend sighed and patted his shoulder. “Truth or dare?”

“Dare.”

“I dare you to give me your credit card information,” the whole room laughed out loud. 

“I want truth, then,” Sora couldn’t help but laugh along. 

“Alright. What’s your credit card information?” 

“Kairi, c’mon!”

“I’m serious. You owe me for that skirt you destroyed.”

“Wh- I don’t have a credit card and I can’t give you my mom’s!”

“I know, I know,” she waved dismissively at him. “You can pay me later. Your turn to pick someone now, Sora.”

“Uhh… Wakka,” he could’ve picked Riku and followed through with Kairi’s wishes, but alas, Sora was a coward and picked anyone. “Truth or dare?”

“Dare, man!” he jumped excitedly on his place, full of energy and eagerness to do stupid things.

“Hm,” he should’ve predicted that. Sora placed a finger on his chin, looking around for any ideas. There was only them playing, some drinks, expensive furniture… and his drunk cousins laying on the couch. Hopefully they wouldn’t mind being messed with for a bit. “I dare you to take out one of Vani’s bracelets without waking him up.”

Vanitas didn’t even notice Wakka raising his arm, taking out his bracelet and putting it back on after a few seconds, which was admittedly hilarious and potentially worrying. He could probably use some medic help. Or mom. Sora could call their mom, but Vanitas would kill him for it. Besides, he had become the butt of the joke, so the game kept going. 

A lot of expected things happened during that Truth or Dare session. Crushes were revealed, shots of an assortment of alcoholic beverages were taken, Wakka had a spoonful of cinnamon and almost choked to death, Sora had to speak in rhymes for three rounds (which was absolute torture), Kairi spent three rounds struggling to keep one of her feet behind her head… Some other, less aggressive challenges were made as well, sparing both Sora and Naminé from extreme things the whole group knew they wouldn’t agree to. Or, at least, people thought they wouldn’t, until Wakka decided to test their limits. 

“Naminé, truth or dare?” Wakka asked without bothering to chew his mouthful of chips.

“Dare,” she replied, taking some chips as well.

“Oh, you’re feeling bold?” she promptly nodded. Seemingly satisfied with her reply, Wakka stood up, made his way to a nearby cooler and brought a cold bottle of _something_ with him. “Think you can down this one?”

“Sure,” Naminé agreed with ease, extending her hand to get it. 

“You’re so childish, dude,” Riku, who hadn’t protested against anyone drinking until that point, snatched the bottle from him instead. “What do you think you’re gonna get with this?”

“Man, you’re overthinking it,” Wakka said in his defense. “I don’t want anything with her, just trying to make things fun. She’s been drinking soda all night.”

“Yeah, and that’s fine,” Riku had none of it. “Not everyone needs to g-”

Knowing Riku and that stone cold face he was making, he was about to go on a long rant about how none of them should be drinking and about how Wakka should go die in a fire or something like that. Which he wasn’t wrong about, considering they were all underage. But Naminé was having none of that either. With no warning and at lightning speed, she snatched the bottle of _something_ from Riku and chugged it down, grinning at the group after she was done.

_“Naminé, what the hell!”_ Riku shrieked after he was done gasping, grabbing the bottle back so she wouldn’t keep going. 

Everyone laughed hysterically for several seconds until Ventus and Vanitas started stirring in the couch, trying to get up and failing, startling everyone in the process. Vanitas rolled off the couch and started snoring as soon as he hit the ground and Ventus started weeping to himself. 

“So, Yuffie,” Naminé started. “Truth or dare?”

  
  
“Dare,” Yuffie replied, her laughter dying down in her throat as she poked at Vanitas.

“Please give… Uh,” Sora had to whisper his cousin’s name. Naminé was rightfully confused. “Ventus some water, he seems distressed.”

“Aw, you’re so nice. Alright, I’ll go. I pass my turn to Selphie.” 

After they were done helping their seniors as much as they would allow in their drunken state, the game proceeded, and Sora decided to busy himself with his social media feed while no one decided to pick on him. He kept a trained ear on the whole conversation to keep track of his name, so no one would make him the butt of the joke without him knowing or anything of the sort. 

His and Riku’s name, of course. It was only a matter of time until Kairi decided to challenge one of them to kiss the other, sending him texts between rounds to ask if she should again and again. Sora appreciated her for it, bless her heart. But he’d appreciate it even more if she backed the fuck off. He couldn’t do it. That wasn’t going to happen that night.

_If I don’t challenge you to do it, someone else will, you know how they are._ She warned on his DMs. 

“Riku,” Selphie called, already giggling. Sora raised his eyes to see what would go down. “Truth or dare?”

“Dare, whatever.” Riku seemed thoroughly done with the game at that point, but he wouldn’t leave if any of them didn’t. 

“Hehe, alright.” Oh no, she didn’t even say anything and they all knew what was coming, opening her arms to motion at everyone playing. “I dare you to kiss one of us.”

Of fucking course Selphie would do that! They had played truth or dare with her before that and she always challenged _someone_ to kiss _someone,_ every time, just for the heck of it. She generally targeted the other girls, though, and having her challenge a boy in their group was a somewhat pleasant change to some. 

Sora got hit with a pang of betrayal, not believing Kairi when she stared wide-eyed at him and shook her head. Why else would she pick Riku, of all people?! Selphie didn’t have a crush on him, as far as Sora knew, so she wasn’t hoping for a free kiss doing that move. Riku obviously didn’t know either, sitting as stiff as a board, face as red as the sriracha sitting beside their bowl of chips, nervously staring into nothingness. 

“You can have some more sriracha, if you’d rather,” Selphie offered and Riku shook his head vehemently. 

“I’ll do it.” Riku asserted sternly, opening and closing his fists repeatedly on his leg, starting to look around. 

People quietly ‘ooooh’d, exchanging looks with each other, since no one expected he’d accept such a challenge. Sora didn’t either, getting the air knocked out of his lungs. Hoping his best friend would pick him was foolish, but he couldn’t help but hope anyway, crossing his fingers behind his back as he intently watched Riku. Maybe his childhood friend privileges would get him an advantage. 

In the end, Riku went for a safe bet. He turned to his left and kissed the top of Naminé’s head, giving her a quick pet to her head afterwards, knowing she wouldn’t misinterpret his actions like the other players did. Kairi petted Sora’s back as his shoulders slumped. 

Not a second later, Sora’s phone rang. He would’ve ignored it if he didn’t see Riku’s nickname flash on the screen. “I hate this game let’s do something else,” it said.

“Hey guys, I think I’ll go dance for a bit,” Sora spattered out on impulse, getting up and flattening his jeans on his legs, and Kairi followed him unprompted. 

“Have fun, you lot.” Kairi waved at the rest of them. “Don’t get too drunk!”

“Boo, you guys are so boring.” Yuffie booed them, but went back to laughing right after.

“Don’t die,” Riku added, getting up as well and offering a hand to Naminé. 

“You, too?” Wakka whined. “We can’t keep a game going with so little people!”

“Too bad,” Riku retorted with a scoff.

With that, the four of them took off, joining the dancing pit in the middle of Tidus’ house once again. It was more packed than ever, illuminated only by a cheap disco party lamp on a corner and people’s phone screens. One could barely recognize the face of the people dancing near them, nor of the people they were making out with, scream-singing to the songs playing at full volume and splashing drinks everywhere at each meaningless toast. It was no surprise, then, that Sora lost sight of his friends pretty much instantly.

Except Riku. Like he had somehow read Sora’s mind, he placed a firm hand on his shoulder and smiled “I am here”, awkwardly moving to the beat. A rush of affection rushed through Sora’s veins as he beamed at his best friend, relishing in the simple comfort of being around each other. 

In just a few seconds, Riku was back at his normal, no more gritting teeth and raging blush on his face. Or… was he? Sora couldn’t tell if it was the temperature, or if someone had snuck alcohol in his cup of soda, but Riku was staring him differently. There was something off about Riku's gaze, about his posture, about him in general. Sora already knew his best friend looked at him with special fondness, shared easy smiles with him and no one else, yet there was something else to it. Something almost magnetic, more than he already was, with his godly visuals and affectionate looks.

_Deliberately alluring, almost._ Sora felt feverish.

“Riku, are you sick? Is something wrong?” After long minutes of getting drunk on his best friend’s intent gaze, Sora decided to ask, leaning closer to speak on his ear. In reality, he was the one feeling sick, withering under his best friend's stare.

“Yeah, I’m good.” he whispered back, smiling at him some more after Sora took a step back, effectively sending a shiver down his spine. 

He tried to shove the feeling away, convinced he was misinterpreting things, to no avail. There was something going on. Not for the first time since realizing he had fallen in love for his best friend, Sora wondered if his best friend was flirting with him. A lot of times, it was over nothing. 

They had been friends for so long, he knew how to read every single one of Riku’s moves, and he certainly was overthinking it. It couldn’t be.

They had been dancing-but-not-really to shitty songs for a long time in that dim cramped room, the music was vibrating every single one of his cells, and Riku kept _smiling_ at him, _looking_ at him, standing closer than necessary. Sora had this feeling in the pit of his stomach, making his heart race and his whole body tingle with the urge to act. 

There was no ignoring it anymore. That was his chance, and if it wasn’t a sign for Sora to act, he’d _make it_ a sign, because he’s had enough.

Sora’s lungs collapsed on themselves when he placed a hand on Riku’s face, then the other, tucking a few loose strands of silver hair behind his ear. Riku stared back at him through fluttery eyelashes, startled, lips parted like he was about to say something. Something along the lines of “Sora, what’re you doing?”, probably. He looked so unfairly good… Sora would’ve appreciated it a lot more if he wasn’t in a hurry, though, squeezing his eyes closed and kissing Riku at once.

They stayed there, pressing their faces together for a while, otherwise not moving a muscle. Sora never kissed anyone before, so he didn’t know what to do after that, and he had burned through all his courage to get there. But he held on to that moment, to the feeling of having Riku’s lips on his, after years of dreaming about it. Riku stood there pretty much motionless until he placed a hand on Sora’s shoulder, holding onto him instead of pushing him away, and he had the faint feeling that Riku started pressing back, but couldn’t stay for much longer before pulling away. He had forgotten how to breathe and his brain was shutting down. 

Sora had full intentions of kissing Riku again after getting some air in his lungs, but he was back at being frozen once he opened his eyes. Riku was still there, blinking in surprise, face red as a bell pepper from what Sora could see. Stunning, really. He could get lost in Riku’s complexion but the party was still going, people were all around them, music still playing. It took less than a second for someone to get in the way.

“Sora!” Tidus screamed in his ear, throwing an arm over his shoulder and walking with him somewhere else, almost knocking the both of them to the ground. “Dude, I didn’t know you were here!”

“Heyyy,” Sora smiled gingerly, trying to keep looking at Riku without making things too obvious. Tidus didn’t need to know Sora was gay. “ I greeted you when we arrived, though!”

“Really?” Tidus reeked of beer. His mom wouldn’t appreciate it. “Didn’t notice ya behind the eyeliner. Anyway! We’re playing -”

Sora didn’t really pay attention to it, he didn’t care. But he was too much of a coward to fully take out Tidus’ arm from his shoulders and walk towards Riku again, looking at him from his shoulder instead. 

Riku was still there, frozen in the middle of the crowd, last time Sora checked.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading all the way through!! please consider leaving a kudo and/or a comment.  
> you can talk to me through [tumblr](http://kenmagoesblep.tumblr.com/) and [twitter](https://twitter.com/kenmagoesblep).


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